Body of Mississauga man found Michigan dump likely came in a shipment of garbage: police

Body of Kevin Joseph Arendt, found Michigan landfill, 'came in a shipment of garbage'

Peel Regional Police are still puzzling over how the body of a Mississauga man ended up in a Michigan landfill, two days after they reported the man missing.

Police confirmed Monday that a body discovered Friday at the Brent Run Landfill in Montrose, Mich., is that of Kevin Joseph Arendt.

“We see a lot of mannequins and things like that in the trash and at first brush that was kind of the thought, but something was not quite right about it so the operator took a closer look and sure enough it was a dead body,” Brent Run manager Dan Gudgel said.

Mr. Arendt, 38, left a bar near Dundas Street West and Confederation Parkway in Mississauga at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 27, according to a police missing person’s report, which added that he was seen driving a navy blue Jeep Liberty with Wisconsin plates.

Sgt. George Tudos of Peel Police said police do not know if the vehicle is registered to Mr. Arendt but they do know that his last known address was in Mississauga. A check on the Missouri transportation website showed the plates expired on June 20.

Police don’t know how Mr. Arendt ended up in the landfill; they said the body likely arrived with a shipment of Canadian garbage. They do not know which company brought the garbage.

Garbage trucks pick up trash around the GTA and haul it to transfer stations, where loaders pack it on large transport trucks for final disposal.

Ontario Waste Management spokesman Peter Hargreave said border patrol scans trucks for radioactive materials but do not scan for bodies.

A landfill worker discovered the body around 9 a.m. Friday. Police identified the body through fingerprints, Montrose Township police Sgt Jamie Cochran said; he did not know why Mr. Arendt’s fingerprints were in the American database.

Police do not suspect foul play, but said in a previous media release that Mr. Arendt’s disappearance was “out of character for him.”

“As sad and tragic as the event was, I guess the silver lining here is that we did find it and presumably his family will have some closure,” said Mr. Gudgel, the Michigan landfill manager. About 60% to 80% of the landfill’s refuse originates in Canada and in particular the Toronto area, Mr. Gudgel said.

Most Toronto-area trash heading to the U.S. comes from commercial sources; Peel Region disposes of residential trash at an incinerator in Brampton or a landfill in Warwick, Ont., a spokesperson said.

Even so, the Region of Peel’s agreement with waste management companies does allow companies to dump city trash in Michigan, as long as they dump an equal amount of private trash in Ontario landfills, Region of Peel spokeswoman Alexandra Fuller said.